Cargo Cult Science (1974) - <AUTHOR> http://www.physics.brocku.ca/etc/cargo_cult_science.php <comment><USER2> For reference, previously on HN

\- 8 months ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11669004](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11669004)

\- 3 years ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6543791](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6543791)

\- 6 years ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1629571](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1629571)

\- 7 years ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=723140](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=723140)

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Cargo%20Cult%20Science&sort=by...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Cargo%20Cult%20Science&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=story&storyText=false&prefix&page=0)

<comment><USER3> And I hope it comes up every year in the future too

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > It's a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that > corresponds to a kind of utter honesty--a kind of leaning over backwards. > For example, if you're doing an experiment, you should report everything > that you think might make it invalid--not only what you think is right about > it: other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you > thought of that you've eliminated by some other experiment, and how they > worked -- to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated.

The problem is that in the current system (based on publishing as much as possible quickly and at prestigious conferences) there are few incentives to do this. Instead people learn to game the system. Academics need to relax a bit, but they can't, since there is so much competition.

<comment><USER5> I see this narrative about the current publish-or-perish system quite often.

How is the current system of academic incentives different from the system of a few decades ago?

<comment><USER6> In my view there are a couple of factors involved. First, it's my impression that it keeps getting more and more competitive. Job security is being whittled away.

Second, we've left the century of physics and entered the century of biology. Most of what you read about, regarding the "reproducibility crisis" and so forth, has to do with the medical and behavioral sciences, which have grown in relation to the physical sciences. It's to the point where, when somebody generalizes about "science research," it's likely to be about life science, and a few of us physical scientists realize that we're an insignificant exception.

I wouldn't say that life science is better or worse than physical science, but that it introduces a new set of problems that may take a few decades to address. One difference is that the life sciences seem more dependent (for now at least) on weak statistics.

Disclosure: I'm a physicist in industry.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> This subject is something the data science/ ML world need to take very seriously. I am constantly passed snippets of google analytics as 'proof' something on the website worked with no analysis of what else could have caused it. With pay per click you get some very sulky looks when you say 'how much of that result do you feel is caused by people clicking the ad that would have clicked the search result if the ad wasn't there?'

Taking a tangent to talk about the style rather than content here.

To me the sign of the true greats in the world of thought are not just those who make new discoveries or have new ideas, but those with the amazing power to communicate those ideas _without jargon_. Feynman, a Nobel laureate, is often remembered for his teaching as much as his discoveries. His books are very funny too.

I remember, when I was college age, a friend telling me they were writing a paper on Existentialism. They kept trying to explain it to me and I felt like an idiot, I couldn't get the meaning of 'existence precedes essence' or whatever, and became sure that philosophy was for smarter people than me...until I picked up a copy of 'Existentialism and humanism' by Sartre, whose idea it was in the first place, and it is not full of jargon and the ideas are perfectly simple. I then read some Camus novels, which actually changed my life(!) and again the ideas are perfectly simple. Their greatness is in their challenge to the norm, the idea that we have everything the wrong way round.

Now I treat anyone who uses jargon unnecessarily (and it can be a useful shorthand at times) as someone who is trying to appear part of something they are merely a commentator on, or who is trying to keep the uninitiated out. I have so much more respect for people who can communicate in plain English. Feynman was a master, as is Orwell.

Startup culture has some really annoying forms of this. Despite my interest and involvement in technology I am actually foremost a finance professional although I do less of it each each day. When you want to stay solvent you need to _forecast your cash flows_ , not f __* around with 'burn rates'. Verbalisation is a special form of rubbish. I heard a sportsman saying he was 'hoping to meddle in the Olympics', when I presume he meant '...win a medal'. I especially hate language that is not specific, 'bi-weekly' means both 'fortnightly' and 'twice-weekly' for instance. I can only conclude that people who use too much jargon are pseudo-intellectuals.

<comment><USER7> A lot of this is also about understanding your audience. I will happily use jargon when talking to peers and plain language when talking to others.

The problem on the internet is when content leaks. Sometimes a piece of writing meant for peers gets shared to others and you get accused of using jargon. Or inside jokes.

In reality the problem is that at first you have a period when you're finding each other's common jargon. You think someone is a peer and you use jargon. If they seem confused, you explain.

But some people feign understanding for fear of seeming dumb. Then you are in trouble. You become the pompous ass with jargon and they learn nothing.

Maybe the answer is to never start with jargon and only upgrade if the other person turns out to be a peer.

But that often offends them if they are indeed a peer.

<comment><USER8> I think the GP hit the nail on the head with the phrasing "anyone who uses jargon _unnecessarily_ ".

Jargon is meant to make communication clearer and faster between peers. If it is making it less clear instead, there is something very wrong.

<comment><USER3> I once worked at a company that had so much jargon they published a glossary on their Sharepoint site, and a list of TLA's (Including 'TLA' itself as the joke goes...it means 'Three Letter Acronym' for the uninitiated.

This is what I might call, 'treating the symptom of bad communication and not the cause'.

<comment><USER9> I think companies use Jargon to help instill a cult community on purpose. I just proposed the idea of creating such a glossary as you mentioned. I can't change a company with close to 100,000 people so I assimilate to get my pay check.

One company I was at had a jar in each conference room. When you used an internal name or acronym without first defining it, you had to put a $1 in the acronym jar. This was used to buy the team lunch. They had to abolish the policy as it was seen illegal to force such behavior. It worked very well while it lasted though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I feel a lot of the things described in the article is happening in fields like information security now. It was interesting listening to the 33C3 talk "In Search of Evidence-Based IT-Security"[1] a couple of days ago and read this Feynman-article now.

The article may have been posted before, but it was new to me.

[1] [https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-8169-in_search_of_evidence- based...](https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-8169-in_search_of_evidence-based_it- security)

<comment><USER11> This article is always relevant. There is always an expert telling people to do something a certain way because reasons, despite zero evidence for those reasons.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> The thing that interests me about Cargo Culting in general is the extent to which it is actually a means of learning - admittedly a very inefficient means.

I wrote down my thoughts on this twice:

[http://www.selectedintelligence.com/post/42868061516/cargo-c...](http://www.selectedintelligence.com/post/42868061516/cargo- cult-programming)

[http://www.selectedintelligence.com/post/52795739838/cargo-c...](http://www.selectedintelligence.com/post/52795739838/cargo- cult-programming-part-ii)

</comment><comment><USER13> Shame crazy ideas about rhino horn continued beyond the middle ages [http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why- does...](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino- horn-cost-300-000-because-vietnam-thinks-it-cures-cancer-and- hangovers/275881/)

</comment><comment><USER14> I know this is a classic and all, but I really feel like this would be a lot better if it actually broke down the mythology of science history rather than just being like, yup, this is the Ultimate Age of Reason™ but there's a lot of people who just can't get with the program for some reason.

<comment><USER13> I'm not sure Feynman was arguing that it was the Ultimate Age of Reason™. Hence "And I've concluded that it's not a scientific world."

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I often use the term 'Cargo Cult Programming'. Not a very large but significant amount of developers fall into that category sadly.

<comment><USER16> I've always wondered about 'Cargo Cult' with reference to software development. When you write software you are expecting a certain result. Surely if you don't get the result, you try something else.

EDIT: ah right. So you 'may' get the result, but it's not due to the thing you have ascribed it to.

<comment><USER13> Wikipedia actually has an article on "Cargo cult programming". They have it as "the ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose".

<comment><USER2> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> We as Climate Change scientists can benefit the most from this very powerful and long term approach in communicating climate change science to the public.

</comment><comment><USER18> I believe Richard Feynman originally coined this term as he discusses its origin in his auto-biography 'Surely You Must Be Joking Mr. Feynman'.

To the Hacker News community I wanted to share a thought which is a belief that human science and human cargo cult science will always be at odds. We should not chastise the Cargo Cultists for their desire to engage in science, but rather embrace and direct their misguided initiatives. Cargo Cult Science will emerge in humanity again and again. I believe it is the duty of scientists to aid Cargo Cultists in their pursuit of true science.</comment>


Quantum Computers Are the Ultimate Paper Tiger - <AUTHOR> https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/quantum-computers-are-ultimate-paper-tiger-101682 <comment><USER2> >Due to superposition, a quantum computer with 100 qubits can represent 2^100 solutions simultaneously

Quantum computers would not solve hard search problems instantaneously by simply trying all the possible solutions at once [1]

The single most common misconception, right, which you find repeated in almost every popular article about the subject that is written says, well, a classical computer is made of bits, and so it can just try each possible solution one by one, but a quantum computer is made of qubits, which can be zero and one at the same time, and this means that if you have 100 qubits, that the quantum computer can explore two to the hundredth power states simultaneously, and then it can just try all the possible answers at once. [2]

[1] [https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/](https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/) [2] [https://blog.ycombinator.com/scott-aaronson-on- computational...](https://blog.ycombinator.com/scott-aaronson-on- computational-complexity-theory-and-quantum-computers/)</comment>


Ask HN: Learning Rails but wanting to launch - <AUTHOR>

As someone learning rails and touching up on HTML, CSS/Frontend I'm super excited to get my product launched but while I am learning, I'm wanting to get a page out to get some interest and ideally some signups.
What would benefit most in terms of perception by the public vs time spent etc.
Bootstrap, a pre-made HTML theme, solutions like Webflow, LaunchRock or other.
Any recommendations? Cheers <comment><USER2> If you're looking for something to build a landing page with, you should check out [http://www.unbounce.com](http://www.unbounce.com)

(Note Unbounce is my employer.)

</comment><comment><USER3> I was in the same spot a few months ago....

[http://railsapps.github.io/rails-prelaunch- signup/](http://railsapps.github.io/rails-prelaunch-signup/)</comment>


Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for the Expanse - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/the-multiverse/2016/02/nick-farmer-knows-dozens-of-languages-so-he-invented-one-for-the-expanse/ <comment><USER2> The Expanse is pretty good so far.

I hope they don't fall into the traps of keeping it going long after their ideas have run out and abandoning ongoing story lines to deal with 'notes' and casting.

Donkey Balls!

<comment><USER3> There's a huge story arc in the novels, so I think we're safe for a while. I highly recommend the books.

I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a wonderfully constructed world and they're doing justice to the complex characters too.

<comment><USER4> The show inspired me to buy the books- I've just finished the first. Hopefully the ratings will be high enough for it to remain funded.

I like the general lack of magic (hyperspace, etc), for example spinning Ceres for gravity. But see: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/40rv49/could_we...](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/40rv49/could_we_colonize_ceres_like_in_syfys_the_expanse/)

<comment><USER3> That was interesting, and a surprising result. Thanks for sharing.

There is a bit of magic: the Epstein Drive, allowing for 1G continuous acceleration 'torch ships'. IIRC if they're gone I don't think it breaks the plot much, but without them it's hard to imagine that there'd be quite such a thriving solar system society; it'd be much less interconnected and a much smaller economy without the ability to support large-scale stations by shipping large volumes of necessary supplies (e.g. ice) around easily.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Since it wasn't actually linked in the article, here's the word-of-the-day twitter account: [https://twitter.com/nfarmerlinguist](https://twitter.com/nfarmerlinguist)

</comment><comment><USER6> Glad to see Nick doing this. He and his Mom (who is a friend from my contracting job at Google) visited my wife and me a few years ago and the number of languages he speaks and how quickly he earns them is impressive.

I bought the first year of the Expanse series on Google Play and have been enjoying it.

</comment><comment><USER7> Funny seeing this pop up on HN. I'm good friends with Nick Farmer. We met at Rutgers. He's my little brother in our fraternity. Small world.

<comment><USER8> Another Nick Farmer associate here from RU; not a fraternity brother, although he did try unsuccessfully to recruit me.

He's a very inquisitive guy, wide range of interests, very hard-working. He deserves this success, for sure. I've been watching the media fanfare unfold since he started promoting the show earlier in 2015 and it's been very exciting for me to see the show explode in popularity after its release.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> "Well walla" and "kaka felota" are just quality conlanging.</comment>


Ask HN: Digital Globe of the World - <AUTHOR>

I'm building a game, and need a 3D Model of the world, like the geographical data from Google Earth, but at much much much lower resolution.
All I can find on the web (searching via images.google.com) is maps of the earth, but I'd like 3D data.
Thanks! <comment><USER2> Have you checked <http://edc.usgs.gov/>? Seems like they have quite a bit of varied data.

But this is likely not very low resolution.

Another source might be: [http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geopad/topograph...](http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geopad/topographic_data.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks!

<comment><USER2> And another, although this site seems to be aimed at navigation of yer car through GPS, but might have some value for you.

<http://www.maps-gps-info.com/wrld-mps.html></comment></comment></comment>


It's time to admit Apple Watch is a success - <AUTHOR> http://www.imore.com/who-watches-apple-watch-watchers <comment><USER2> Yeah, sure.

</comment><comment><USER3> I find it pretty awesome. A lot more useful than I expected for sending quick replies when on a call etc.

My biggest problem is keeping it charged. I actually think a lightening port would help as I already have a bunch of mobile charges.

The inductive charger is way too expensive to buy a bunch (and there are no cheap clones yet).</comment>


Role of Familiar Strangers Overlooked in Social Networks - <AUTHOR> http://phys.org/news/2016-12-encounters-familiar-strangers-overlooked-role.html <comment><AUTHOR> Key extract:

        The researchers classified human relationships into four types: in-roles
        (who include colleagues, classmates, and others who we are acquainted with
        and see on a regular basis), friends (those who we are acquainted with, but
        do not see regularly), strangers (those who we are neither acquainted
        with nor see regularly), and familiar strangers (those who we see regularly
        but are not acquainted with). The new study finds that familiar strangers
        may play a significant role in processes such as information sharing
        and disease spreading.</comment>


DHH demonstrates "Test Induced Design Damage" - <AUTHOR> https://gist.github.com/dhh/4849a20d2ba89b34b201

<comment><USER2> The comment by ntl more or less nails it.

This example is contrived at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. These kinds of patterns simplify applications with complex business logic. They complicate applications with straightforward business logic - much in the same way having more equations than variables makes a system of linear equations overdetermined.

These patterns exist to help domains with complex use cases test the business logic - which is likely to be tricky and filled with edge cases - quickly and and in a distraction free layer apart from the rest of the supporting infrastructure (eg. models, views, and controllers). This narrows developer focus to a single level of abstraction so they can solve the hard problem at hand. These patterns then provide an integration path for reintroducing the rest of the infrastructure (eg. dependency injection, etc).</comment>


Obama Says Tax Breaks Shouldn't Reward Companies for Creating Jobs Abroad - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-16/obama-says-tax-breaks-shouldn-t-reward-companies-for-creating-jobs-abroad.html <comment><USER2> What's the surprising, counterintuitive notion that reveals this point as a miconception? The point of extending the tax breaks is to juice the US economy; we, as a society, are agreeing (via our government) to spend money to attempt to create US jobs.

<comment><USER3> Errr, I believe these "tax breaks" he's referring to are not taxing money earned overseas until it's repatriated (I know there has been a big push about this from Team Obama and it's the only "tax break" I know of that they've talked about that would fit what he's saying now).

If US multinationals suddenly have to pay US taxes on all they do overseas, even when it, say, never touches the US (e.g. mineral extraction, processing and sales, almost entirely with foreign staff) ... well, I suppose it's consistent with our unique policy of taxing all of our expats (the lucky ones are in countries with which we've signed a tax treaty).

Our corporate tax rates are quite high by world standards. I don't know anyone I respect who thinks its going to help the US economy. For instance, how many of these companies will follow all those oil service companies who've already moved to Switzerland by doing the like (maybe not to the Cantons of Helvetica ... but it's a generally good choice).

<comment><USER3> Here's an article confirming that what Obama's pushing includes the above: [http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/the_move_your_corpora...](http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/the_move_your_corporate_headqu.html)</comment></comment></comment>


What's the best adblocker for iOS at the moment? - <AUTHOR> Now that Peace is gone and Crystal has gone rogue, what's the best adblocker for iOS that allow users to manage their own whitelisting? <comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10274898](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10274898)</comment>


Flashing Your Headlights? You're Probably Sending the Wrong Signals - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/automobiles/headlights-flashing-etiquette.html <comment><USER2> In my experience, people still regularly flash high beams to indicate that someone has left their high beams on. I have found this to be just as true now as it was 20 years ago, when started driving.

I would be curious to know if others have different experiences. Seems to me that people still know what this signal means, and typically turn off their high beams immediately.

For context, most of my driving has been in northern California, but I've also lived in LA and the east coast.</comment>


U.S. study links marijuana use to more intercourse - <AUTHOR> http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-marijuana-sex/sex-and-drugs-u-s-study-links-marijuana-use-to-more-intercourse-idUSKBN1CW0WQ?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=59f304d204d3011fa6bcb18e&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook <comment><USER2> > It used to be thought that couples mostly smoked after sex, but Eisenberg > said his findings show the opposite is true for "all races, ages, education > levels, income groups and religions, every health status, whether they were > married or single and whether or not they had kids."

Wait... what? They used to think that people had sex and then smoked marijuana, and are surprised to find that people smoke marijuana and then have sex?

> "I think if you asked a man or a woman, 20 more times to have sex over a > year, that would seem like a lot," Eisenberg said.

Presented without comment, except to say: 20 (more) times per year means once every two-and-a-half weeks.

<comment><USER3> > Presented without comment, except to say: 20 (more) times per year means > once every two-and-a-half weeks.

Well, supposedly single people have less sex than married people, and you know the stereotype about married couples....

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > Eisenberg cautioned the study should not be misinterpreted as having proven > a causal link.

So alternatively, people who are promiscuous may also tend to smoke more weed?

<comment><USER5> An obvious interpretation of this data is that some people are _risk-takers_ and others are _risk-averse_ ; the risk-takers are collectively more inclined to do drugs _and_ more inclined to have sex.

(Something like an _extrovert /introvert_ divide would also work.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> In other news: \- water wet \- sky blue

<comment><USER7> And the haze is purple.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Groundbreaking study says people socially connected enough to have a hookup are more likely to be socially connected enough to have a hookup.

</comment><comment><USER9> 'Cause it feels way better that way :)

</comment><comment><USER10> Well...not that much more ...but there is a noticeable uptick.

</comment><comment><USER11> Nice.</comment>


Ask HN: Kickstarter asks me to pay more through email, what to do? - <AUTHOR> I backed a kickstarter campaign in the hopes of getting an awesome product, something that I passed on the first time for being a first version but that now I feel confident they have made much better. So I backed it choosing the reward I wanted and paid it.
However, after completing the campaign someone[1] sent me an email asking me for more money to complete the payment and shipment[2]. Since the email looks legit, I hovered on the link only to realize to my dismay that it's in http (not https). Nonetheless, I followed it t an official pebble website only to realize that, after few pages trying to make me buy some more products, they just offered a form that looks like another famous company form[3] asking me to write my credit card info. I didn't check into the source code to see if it's the official one, nor I think I should be required.
So these are strong indications of scam for me:
1. Ask me to complete a payment through email.
2. An insecure and easy to mitm link to complete the payment.
3. Only allowing to write my credit card details, while the official shop[4] accepts paypal and others.
Is the company as sloppy as it seems or am I being scammed? If relevant, the company is Pebble from which I would expect a high quality checkout process.
What can I do? I don't mind paying 10-20$ extra so I could just cancel the order, get a refund and then go to their website and buy it using the official way with paypal. I do care a lot about not giving my credit card details, specially given the 3 points above. And I also care about the timeframe, because as a backer I would receive it much earlier.
[1] probably the campaign organizers
[2] The campaign said I could have to pay more
[3] http://stripe.com/
[4] http://pebble.com/ <comment><USER2> Pebble also emailed me some links to [http://kickstarter.getpebble.com/s/<unique_identifier>](http://kickstarter.getpebble.com/s/<unique_identifier>) which allowed me to pay through Stripe. The HTTP links redirected me to the same URL except HTTPS, so I was happy enough with it.

It was a couple of weeks ago, but it all looked legit to me and I paid ~$30 which was claimed to be 20% VAT.

Edit: And here's part of an email that was sent out on the 30th of June:

      1. Between July 11th and July 24th, we'll send invitations to backers, so you can finalize your pledge.
      2. When you get your invite, you'll provide your shipping address and color preference, and we'll collect VAT.

</comment><comment><USER3> You've pretty much answered your own questions!

Sounds like it is a scam link, Pebble itself seems to use https: fore everything [https://www.pebble.com/](https://www.pebble.com/)

Absolutely cancel it, and re-order through the website.

</comment><comment><USER4> If you think you are being scammed regarding a Pebble product purchased through Kickstarter, you should be contacting Pebble and Kickstarter.

It goes without saying that you should never provide credit card information of an unsecured connection.

<comment><AUTHOR> It _is_ redirected to an url with https with Pebble's official email, so it might as well be legit.</comment></comment>


Which programming language is the best for programming beginner? - <AUTHOR>

QBASIC was the first programming language I learned in my secondary school. It has already been more than a decade.<p>Some of the engineering colleges teach "C" as introductory programming language.  However, i somehow feel like Python is very intuitive and easy to understand. Is it a good idea to begin computer programming with Python? <comment><USER2> I would divide languages into these categories:

Practical and beginner-friendly: C# (if you're a Windows person), Python, Ruby

Technical and foundational (start here if you don't mind studying for 5 years before you produce anything practical): C, Lisp (using SICP)

Interesting but not beginner-friendly or foundational (play with these when you get bored): Erlang, Go, JavaScript, ML, Scala, Smalltalk

Haskell falls somewhere in between the last two groups. It's very technical, and it's foundational for functional programming, but it doesn't transition to other languages as well as C or Lisp might, and it doesn't have as much support as C and Lisp.

The last group is languages that are not especially interesting, beginner- friendly or foundational. That group consists of: C++ (complicated), Delphi/Pascal (little community support), Java (crufty, limiting), Perl (nightmarish syntax), PHP (jumbled mess which allows, but does everything possible to discourage, good code), Visual Basic (basically just C# with "simpler" syntax and less community support)

Any languages not mentioned are probably either far too obscure or outdated for you to even think about now.

I welcome disagreement on this categorization.

PS: I didn't forget Objective C, I've just never used it so I didn't know where to put it. Probably "interesting but not beginner-friendly."

PPS: There is a category which includes languages from all of the above categories. That category is "Likely to get you a job." It includes C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Objective C, PHP, Python, and Ruby.

<comment><USER3> Ironically, this response is VERY similar to the confusing verbosity of most programming languages. :) In Python, you would just say:

Python

(NOTE: I do appreciate the thoughtful and detailed response. I was mainly illustrating a point for Python as an excellent programming language for novices.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I am not a professional teacher but I tend to recommend Javascript for learning the first basics of programming.

The reasons are as follows.

1) Follows (mostly) C style syntax which transfers well into many other languages (Java, C, C++, C#, etc).

2) Lots of good examples available, just view source on your browser

3) Runs in your browser so no software to install no classpath, projects, compilation, or configuration to deal with. Also easy install of debugger, console, etc through firebug.

4) High instant gratification factor. e.g. make change, see results on web page. It makes a direct connection between the the students coding effort and creating something useful as opposed to a for-loop that prints 100 numbers to a green screen. If you are dealing with a teenager or younger person, getting something "cool" published on the web can be a great factor in motivation. Javascript requires the least amount of cost infrastructure and deployment hassles.

<comment><USER5> Lifehacker came out with a 'Learn to Code' series a few months ago ([http://lifehacker.com/#!5744113/learn-to-code-the-full- begin...](http://lifehacker.com/#!5744113/learn-to-code-the-full-beginners- guide)) and used JavaScript as the language for the same reasons that imechura has given above.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Whichever your friends or family know best (or lacking that, whichever you find the most readable / enjoyable documentation for).

You can't really go wrong with either of the mainstream languages, so I'd advise you to have a look at the documentation or tutorials for some of them, and choose one that you like best.

It also depends a lot on what you want to write, as certain languages are better for one task than the other. I wouldn't write a web app in C, for example, nor would I write an operating system kernel in python.

</comment><comment><USER7> Python is often recommended, and a great starting point is Zed Shaw's popular "Learn Python the Hard Way:"

<http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index>

<comment><USER3> Zed also offers online instruction/classes. Cool guy too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Well, that depends on the goals of the beginner in question. We could also ask which human language is best for the beginner, but the answer would invariably be the language of the culture they live in.

I was just talking to a neighbor who's a game and graphics developer. He writes code in C/C++/C#. I was telling him about my side project, a website which sells cupcake wrapper designs. We got to talking about web development and he asked me what homework would I give him to get started. Well, after some more digging, it turns out he was most motivated by the idea of making some passive income on the web.

So, while I did email him links to RoR. I told him that learning about SEO, Keywords, and WordPress is what he should do first; that he should put up a couple of "trial balloon" sites to collect emails about his ideas, and then if he found potential customers who were interested in one of his ideas, he would have some great motivation to work through that RoR tutorial.

So, my advice is: Programming is just a tool, and unless the person is interested in programming from a pure academic standpoint, it's better to first find out what they want to do with that tool, and go from there.

</comment><comment><USER9> There's a theory about this. If one starts by learning object orientation first, it becomes second nature and easier to write well structured code afterwards(thinking of making smaller component, good structures etc) instead of vice versa, starting with procedural code and learning objects afterwards.

That's why most colleges start with Java and learn basics and object orientation, then move to C to learn memory management,pointers etc, and then Lisp and data structures to expand one's mind.

Though some courses start now with python which I find extremely cool. If I were to start again I'd like python since you can hack fully functional programs more quickly, and think about lists and data structures first instead of way later on. It also helps to rule out faster if the person is meant for programming or not.

</comment><comment><USER3> I find Python the easiest for non-programmers to learn. Less things to account for (syntax, conventions, etc.). Allows people to be very direct with what they want their program to achieve.

</comment><comment><USER10> The language matters less than the book or teacher presenting it. While some languages might make it a bit harder on the instructor, the inverse is a _lot_ worse for a beginner.

And the quality of the book often depends on the prior knowledge of the fledgling programmer and his/her ambitions (important for the topics of exercises etc.).

It's hard to give an easy answer here. Scheme and Python are quite popular in this area, but not everyone should _start_ programming by reading SICP.

</comment><comment><USER11> I was just considering this question myself. I'm teaching programming to a friend with no experience at all. I finally settled on Lua, even though I don't know it myself. The syntax is clean, it's a compact language, and once she learns it she could use it in gaming, which she's into. My runner-up was Ruby. Python would be good too, though I think the significant whitespace is a distracting pitfall for absolute beginners.

</comment><comment><USER12> Modern Perl, have a look at: <http://www.modernperlbooks.com/mt/index.html>

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm actually starting with Node.js. I was thinking of Python, but Node seemed more up my alley, as a interface designer for web apps. Haven't had much time to dabble, though.

</comment><comment><USER14> PHP.</comment>


The New England Patriots' prevention of fumbles is nearly impossible - <AUTHOR> http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/01/ballghazi_the_new_england_patriots_lose_an_insanely_low_number_of_fumbles.html

<comment><USER3> If you watch Patriots games, you'll see that if Patriots running backs fumble, they get benched. If they do it again they get released. Belichick is maniacal about getting on his players about fumbling. That is a simple explanation. The team has been well-coached for a long time. If you think the Patriots' success is all from deflated balls, you need to explain how they out-scored the Colts 28-0 in the second half (and didn't fumble in horrible conditions).

<comment><USER4> Over the past two seasons there have been 9 total fumbles by Patriot running backs - only 1 all this year. All of those backs are still employed by the Patriots. Over those two seasons, the majority of fumbles came from Brady and Edelman.

Of the backs that fumbled in 2012, only Woodhead is gone. He fumbled only once.

Two backs fumbled in 2011, once each. Woodhead (who is gone) and Ridley, who is still a Patriot.

Patriot backs simply don't fumble. Brady and Edelman do, and Welker did a bit. Your explanation isn't supported by the data.

Source. [http://www.pro-football- reference.com/teams/nwe/2014.htm](http://www.pro-football- reference.com/teams/nwe/2014.htm)

EDIT - I'm not sure my source differentiates fumbles from lost fumbles, although that doesn't seem to impact the conclusion regarding parent's comment.

<comment><USER3> "Patriots backs simply don't fumble": Yes, because if they have a fumbling problem, they stop playing until they fix it (Ridley) or they cease being Patriots if they can't fix it (Maroney). Belichick is well-known for having a "doghouse" for running backs who fumble.

"Your explanation isn't supported by the data": I wasn't trying to give an explanation supported by the data. I was trying to give an explanation for the data that makes sense and is supported by observing the Patriots play.

It's like saying Magnus Carlsen must cheat at chess, because the chance of him making so few errors is effectively zero assuming he makes errors at the rate that other grandmasters do.

<comment><USER5> I think it would be pretty easy to show, similar to this article -

Pre-computer era elite GMs and computer-era elite GMs have similar error rates[1], with the caveat that we presume disagreeing with the computer's top choice to be an error. They mostly agreed with the computer's assessment something like 50-57% of the time.

As far as I know Magnus' games haven't been subjected to this kind of analysis, and I recall 2 pretty bad moves in the recent match with Anand, so I'd be interested to see it. I suspect he may be even slightly above 60%.

Should it be something like high 70%'s though I think it would be time to start a conversation about it. It's how Ivanov was busted: overwhelmingly playing one of the top 2 engine moves, which is basically impossible. [2]

1 - [http://en.chessbase.com/post/computers-choose-who-was-the- st...](http://en.chessbase.com/post/computers-choose-who-was-the-strongest- player-)

2 - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0J8SPENjM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0J8SPENjM)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm becoming more disappointed in this analysis.

"But in 2007, something happened to propel [the Patriots] to a much better rate."

The author is using a 5-year average, and then concluding that something must have happened in a single year that is suddenly different. What that implies to me, is that they had a particularly terrible year in 2002. So, when the really bad year slides off of the 5-year moving average, then the 5-year average suddenly looks much better.

<comment><USER7> Also, while the article ultimately looks at both, the "money chart" is for fumbles lost, rather than total fumbles. I'm pretty sure the stat guys at footballoutsiders.com have more than once run the numbers to show that fumble recovery is pure chance; hard to see how having easier to handle balls increases those odds.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> As someone who doesn't follow the NFL I am surprised that they allow the teams to supply their own balls. Seems it would be less complicated and achieve an even playing field if everyone had to use the same balls supplied by the league.

Does this happen in baseball/ basketball as well? From an Australian perspective it seems unusual.

<comment><USER9> Quarterbacks like their footballs to be broken in a bit, and they all have their own preference for doing it. They lobbied the NFL years back to let them break in the game footballs and the NFL said OK. They have to use official NFL footballs and they are SUPPOSED to be properly inflated at game time. Each team uses their own footballs while on offense.

I doubt this happens in basketball because the same ball is being handled by numerous people on both teams, so it wouldn't be fair to let one player or team break the ball in to their own preferences. The same would be true of your AFL. In the NFL, teams are using their own broken in balls, and the quarterback is (usually) the only guy who has to actually throw it.

Baseballs only last a couple of pitches and offense/defense are completely different games, so I seriously doubt anyone is allowed to do anything to any ball before the game. When a pitcher gets a new ball it is already pre-rubbed in a special mud, and they can rub it in dirt a bit but they can't put anything that will stick to the ball on it as it gives the pitcher an advantage.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> plays per fumble is not a very good metric - as fumbles go down it increases exponentially. If you look at the total fumbles, the patriots are #1 but only 7 ahead of #2. The two worst teams are 10 behind the next two teams. I didn't run the numbers, but eyeballing it, it seems like the Patriots are pretty easily within a couple standard deviations there.

<comment><USER11> I think Brian Burke did a more thorough take on it.

[http://advancednflstats.com/index.php/home/research/general/...](http://advancednflstats.com/index.php/home/research/general/224-the- patriots-have-great-ball-security)

It's not as damning for the Patriots. But very interesting that it suddenly started in 2007, the same year the NFL changed the rules to allow visiting teams to use their own balls.

<comment><USER12> Thanks this is a much more mathematically reasonable analysis. I especially like the idea of using the #fumbles made by Pats' opponents as a control for the weather (although that confounds the Pats' defense's ability to generate fumbles).

The OP gets credit for noticing an unusual trend in the data, but does all kinds of weird seat-of-the-pants analysis that I found pretty hard to even look at.

E.g. Sorting the teams by fumble frequency, and then running a regression on the ranked list (!!?); using plays/fumble instead of fumbles/play; reporting stats with the null hypothesis that the Pats fumble rate is drawn randomly from other teams (instead of asking what the likelihood is of an extreme value at least that high).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> For those of you who aren't keeping up with the up to the minute minutae of the New England Patriots (American football team) scandal (presumably because you have lives), head coach Bill Belichick gave a press conference a few hours ago where he provided a hypothesis of what might have happened: as many people know, quarterbacks like their game footballs prepared in specific (sometimes elaborate [0]) ways prior to use in games. Belichick says that the team went over the process they use for games a few days ago and they determine that the preparation process they use for their footballs (which he claims they do right up to the point they are given to officials for pre-game testing) increases the air pressure in the balls by about 1 psi [1]. Therefore, the balls appear legal when tested by officials, but after a few hours of sitting around, the pressure reduces to below the legal limit. He doesn't specify the process used by the team, but presumably it's some kind of rubbing that heats the ball up, and when it cools down the interior air pressure is reduced accordingly.

I'm sure someone will test this out and verify or discredit the claim.

[0] [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/sports/football/eli- mannin...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/sports/football/eli-mannings- footballs-are-months-in-making.html?_r=0)

[1] [http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/...](http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2015/01/bill_belichick_defends_patriots_on_deflategate_we.html?p1=feature_pri_hp)

<comment><USER14> Going from 75 degrees to 50 produces something like a 1.5 psi reduction. 85 -> 35 wound be closer to a 2psi drop. Water vapor increases the drop. Funny thing is searching for the calculation produces highly variable results.

<comment><USER15> Belichick specifically said he was not talking about atmospheric temperature conditions, but the conditions of the ball. Presumably whatever rubbing of the ball was necessary for preparation heated the air in the ball. He must have explained this in the most obtuse way possible to reduce the chance people call him a cheater for heating the air in the ball.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Analyzing outlying statistics across all the available variables would be an interesting technique to try to predict other potential rules violations. This could apply to many different types of sporting events.

I wonder if anyone is working on this problem?

Despite a few nit picky issues I have with this particular analysis of the Patriots fumble data it's probably the strongest evidence I've seen so far that there has likely been a persistent rules violation.

<comment><USER13> _it 's probably the strongest evidence I've seen so far that there has likely been a persistent rules violation._

That's only true if ball inflation tracks with fumbles. There have been lots of assertions that's the case, but I haven't seen any evidence.

Two counter examples:

\- If you look at AFCC, that's Patriots had 1 fumble in the first half playing with an underinflated ball in dry weather conditions, and had zero fumbles in the second half playing with properly inflated balls, and in wet conditions.

\- Aaron Rodgers is on record stating that he likes his footballs to be inflated as high as possible. But if you look at GB's fumble data in the link, they're #6 behind NE in total fumbles.

There are a whole bunch of confounding variables here, including coaching techniques (look at how Tiki Barber's corrected his fumble problems in one year after coaching changes).

<comment><USER16> I agree that we don't have a controlled study in this case. However, it will be interesting to look at this data at the end of next season. If the Patriots fumble stats revert to pre 2007 levels it will certainly raise some interesting questions.

<comment><USER7> Why? Fumbles are rare and highly variable.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm not convinced that it's okay to just remove all the dome-teams from the plot. Using the author's data, here's a plot of all the teams and total fumbles (not 'fumbles lost' that the author focuses on):

[http://i.imgur.com/QP6LXWg.png](http://i.imgur.com/QP6LXWg.png)

The Patriots are not even the top team! It's actually the Falcons that have the most plays per fumble. If it's "nearly impossible" for the Patriots, what does that say about the Falcons? The author focuses on "fumbles lost" because that number is more dramatic if one is trying to prove that the Patriots did something wrong. That number in isolation only shows that the Patriots were extremely good at recovering their own fumbles.

Looking at the graph, there is a notable bend at the top 4 teams. Either the top 4 teams have fewer fumbles through training, or the top 4 teams are all cheating somehow. It's hard to call the Patriots statistics impossible when they're in 2nd place.

</comment><comment><USER17> It would be interesting to get the stats on fumbles during kickoff/punt returns (when a neutral kicking ball is in use, not a team-supplied offensive ball), and on plays involving interceptions or fumble recoveries (where they would be using the other team's ball). If they rank highly in fumble prevention in those situations, it would suggest that this is a result of coaching, not using a particular ball.

<comment><USER4> Kickoff and punt return fumbles can be the result of other factors - <USER2> traveling at high speed over a long distance hitting a returner looking skyward is a unique football situation that only occurs on returns.

Interceptions and recoveries would be by defensive players, who would spend much less time focusing on ball handling since they rarely carry the ball.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Listen, engineers and scientists: 11 out of 12 balls, markedly different and underinflated compared to the other team's balls? This is a priori evidence of tampering. Any jury would convict. We don't need a Perry Mason-type confession; we don't need to identify the culprit. The team should be strongly punished for breaking the NFL rules. I think the NFL should do an extensive investigation, after the initial punishment, which justly would be done BEFORE the Super Bowl. This investigation needs to determine whether the Pats have cheated with underinflated balls over a period of months and years. It can be done. Then is the time for scientific analysis, testimony by physicists, and so on.

My point is: We don't need to identify the person responsible, and we don't need a confession. Guilt is obvious, a priori. Punishment should be swift.

</comment><comment><USER19> Is the author confusing "fumbles" and "fumbles lost" or am I?

<comment><USER6> The author starts out with a plot of lost fumbles, and further down shows a plot that includes all fumbles, not just lost fumbles.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Wouldn't pass completion ratio be a better metric?

</comment><comment><USER21> The game against the Colts the Patriots clearly cheated. It is beyond reasonable that 11 of 12 footballs are 2psi less than the rule allows. Especially since the 12th football of regulation weight is the football used for kicking as you want the football inflated properly. But using fumbles as proof of long term violation is tough because their are too many factors to consider. Patriots are a pass heavy team and have been for a long time. They use multiple RB's and a fresh RB is less likely to fumble than one RB used heavily throughout the game due to mental and physical fatigue. WR's fumble but are less likely than RB's. An under-inflated ball is easier to grip so it would be interesting to see how WR's who left have fared on their new teams and if any returned later, after playing poorly on new team, to play well for the Patriots. Since 2007 has Tom Brady's completion % and interception ratio on the road improved drastically? All these things could be explained by an under-inflated but not definitively.

<comment><USER22> You are incorrect with respect to your explanation of "the 12th football being used for kicking". An entire separate group of footballs are used for kicking, outside control of either team. The kicking balls are brand new and are not allowed to be broken-in. They still have the waxy coating a new ball has. This was done some years ago to try to reduce the effectiveness of kickers.

<comment><USER21> I stand corrected, I didnt know that tidbit and just assumed that the 12th ball was for kickoff/field goals. But what about punting is it the same ball used for kicking or would it be part of the 12?

<comment><USER23> Punting balls are also the special kicking balls.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Wonder Drug for Aging (Made from One of the Deadliest Toxins on Earth) (2017) - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-10-26/inside-fort-botox-where-a-deadly-toxin-yields-2-8-billion-drug <comment><USER2> It'll help you live forever! (If it doesn't kill you first.)</comment>


Ask HN: Which text editor do you use for writing code? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER3> Linux desktop: kdevelop, kate

Remote ssh: vim

Windows: Visual Studio, Notepad++

It really depends on the language, doesn't it? Funny that nobody mentioned Eclipse or Netbeans here, it was so standard 10 years ago for Java.

I mainly work with C++, Fortran, Python, in classical HPC/data science based work where I don't really make use of an IDE.

</comment><comment><USER4> IntelliJ for projects. It's not free, but the functionality will save you tons of time.

VS Code for misc files. It starts up way faster than IntelliJ when you need to do something quickly.

Vim on the server. For the record, I also use vim keybinding plugins for IntelliJ and VS Code.

</comment><comment><USER5> Well, this thread should be totally safe from flame wars!

I use (n)vim as my editor everything: making to-do lists (which I maintain in plain .txt files), writing TeX for school, and writing code.

</comment><comment><USER6> I actually use a text editor that grew out of PE from the BeOS days. I just keep adding more and more features that I need.

When I don't have time to write my own features I use Sublime Text, BBEdit and Atom (for Markdown and docs)

<comment><USER7> pepper?

<comment><USER6> You win a prize.

<comment><USER7> So, IIRC, long ago you bought it from Hekkelman Programmatuur...? Has anything happened with it since or is it essentially your personal editor (PE, if you will)?

(Edit: I was a pepper user long ago and wondered whatever happened... there's not much trace of it on the web anymore.)

<comment><USER6> I was selling Pepper for a long while but I had a hard time keeping everyone happy and building for all platforms. So I got frustrated and stopped. Now-a- days, I actually have this all automated, it's a lot less work. I use virtual machines to checkout changed code and go through the build process, Unit test, package up, etc. They run all the time on a Mac Pro with 64gb RAM using VMWare Fusion.

I continue to enhance it. It's quite different. I have taken inspiration from KDevelop and QT Creator. I feel like it competes with any other editor our there. Dare I say Vi and Emacs too. I actually have a special interface for those users so they feel at home. A nice worksheet, built in shell, I wrote plugins for build systems like CMake, make, gcc, and also of course Git support. I wrote an iOS version that lets you use your Apple Pencil to hand write code, use it to edit existing code, save and commit back. I take your handwriting and convert it to proper letters/symbols/numbers , automatically.

Whew. I can list out more things if you want :-)

Thank you for being a Pepper user, BTW. I hope that you found it enjoyable while it was available. The old Windows, Linux and FreeBSD builds still work :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Sublime for single file scripts, VS Code for projects.

</comment><comment><USER9> GNU Emacs for more than 15 years now!

</comment><comment><USER10> Neovim w/ a custom config setup by a good hacker buddy of mine and a whole buncha plugins.

</comment><comment><USER11> Vim and Atom.

</comment><comment><USER12> Notepad++ and Visual Studio 2013

</comment><comment><USER13> vim for most one-offs, JetBrains IDEs for projects. I occasionally take the tour through emacs/spacemacs, Sublime, and VS Code to see what's new, but historically have come back to those two choices.

</comment><comment><USER14> vim now. Visual Studio and Sublime for a long time though.

May try VS Code again soon

<comment><AUTHOR> Visual Studio Code I am currently using.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Preferably vim but sometimes Geany, and maybe notepad++ in a pinch.

</comment><comment><USER16> Sublime when I can and Visual Studio for the gross Windoes stuff.

</comment><comment><USER17> Sublime for one-off scripts, IntelliJ for big projects.

</comment><comment><USER18> VS Code - <USER2>

</comment><comment><USER19> Emacs and Aquamacs.

</comment><comment><USER20> DrRacket of course!

</comment><comment><USER21> Visual Studio. By far best editor, JetBrains just copied the Visual Studio concept, and they still rocks on any non-visual-studio supported (by plugins or by default) programming language.

</comment><comment><USER22> nano and geany

(neo)vi(m) if I have to.

echo,sed,cat in a pinch ;) (but really love a well configured nano and geany is really great as well)

</comment><comment><USER23> TextMate and hopefully Emacs soon

</comment><comment><USER24> Sublime with loads of plugins

</comment><comment><USER25> vim and some plugins. sublime when I have like 10+ files to look at.

</comment><comment><USER26> BBEdit and Atom.

</comment><comment><USER27> Vim.

</comment><comment><USER28> emacs

</comment><comment><USER29> Neovim

</comment><comment><USER30> sublime text and qtcreator

</comment><comment><USER31> vscode/intelj idea

</comment><comment><USER32> vscode or vim

</comment><comment><USER33> emacs

</comment><comment><USER34> jed.

</comment><comment><USER35> vscode</comment>


Sleep Tech Will Widen the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor - <AUTHOR> https://motherboard.vice.com/read/sleep-tech-will-widen-the-gap-between-the-rich-and-the-poor <comment><USER2> If it's just chemicals and devices it will be subject to the same hyper- deflation as other high-tech stuff. It would get rather cheap over time.</comment>


San Francisco wants to collect over $3.3M each year from Uber, Lyft drivers - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/04/san-francisco-wants-to-collect-over-3-3m-each-year-from-uber-lyft-drivers/ <comment><USER2> The headline is deceiving and sensationlist. Here is the fact:

 _drivers are required to pay an annual business registration fee of $91 per year_

If, as Uber says, they are not employees but contractors operating businesses, then they should pay their share like everyone else. If they are employees, then Uber should pay its share. Otherwise, other San Franciscans have to cover their share for them.</comment>


Cheap Package Design Tricks People Into Dropping Motorola Droid On Floor - <AUTHOR> http://consumerist.com/2009/11/cheap-package-design-tricks-people-into-dropping-motorola-droid-on-floor.html

<comment><USER2> Donald Norman frowns, sir!

Edit: Do people just not know who Donald Norman is? Here: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Norman#Partial_bibliogra...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Norman#Partial_bibliography)

He wrote "The Design of Everyday Thing".

<comment><USER3> And the amusingly titled but provocative _Turn Signals Are The Facial Expressions Of Automobiles_.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It sort of reminds me of a video I saw when the original iPhone came out: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jgYdtBn-8w>

I know packaging looks nice and presents the device well, but I think it should be first priority to make sure people can open the thing without dropping it. The iPhone literally requires you to let the bottom part of the packaging fall a bit while you hold on to the top part.

<comment><USER5> I prefer this one: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kGyR55dp8A>

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> _sigh_ Everything is a conspiracy to the Consumerist isn't it?

<comment><USER7> I had the same thought. I think they're confusing crappy package design (incompetence) with malice.

<comment><USER8> Really? I think they're saying the cheap design _itself_ is doing the 'tricking', not Verizon or Moto. Which seems fairly accurate.

<comment><USER9> Instead of 'tricks' they should have used 'causes' or 'results in', or some other phrase that does not imply a negative intention in the design. It's just bad design.

<comment><USER10> I assumed they were being facetious.

<comment><USER11> I doubt it - Consumerist is very good at manufacturing outrage, even for minor, accidental transgressions. They're also very good at playing the oppressed consumer card.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm not disputing the design of the package but I'm wondering how this is happening to so many people? When I got the droid the Verizon employee took it out of the box, activated it, configured it, and a few other things. They also handed me the phone. Is it possible to do this by mail?

<comment><USER13> Some of the comments indicated that some salespeople are actually dropping the phones due to the same packaging flaw.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What Happened to Sqlfiddle? - <AUTHOR> It's been down for a week. Does anyone know what happened? <comment><USER2> I have found it to be very flaky. I also found some issues in defining functions. The functions don't work well with semi colon as a separator so I used GO as a separator to work.

Since then I have switched to DB fiddled and it's working well for me. It supports more variants of pgsql also.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for the pointer to DB fiddle!</comment></comment>


Programming Can Ruin Your Life - <AUTHOR> http://devizen.com/blog/2007/09/11/ruin/

<comment><USER2> I can relate to this:

"The frantic pace of the software world will instill in you a sense of panic and urgency. You must do everything now. Tomorrow is too late. The thought of working constantly will no longer seem foreign or ridiculous. You will spend your free time feeling guilty about not working."

And need to remember this:

"Don't miss the life you have in the search for the one you think you want."

</comment><comment><USER3> This is a good read. I personally eat well and avoid candy, but this cracked me up.

</comment><comment><USER4> >Programming presents you with a problem and allows you to eventually solve it provided you don't quit.

lol... That's a great quote.

<comment><USER5> Not a joke.

<comment><USER4> I didn't take it as one. I'm laughing because it's so painfully true.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> it's the only thing i've ever not sucked at, so it's not like i have a choice in the matter.</comment>


The $50 Wolfram Alpha iPhone App Is Now $2  - <AUTHOR> http://gizmodo.com/5506939/the-50-wolfram-alpha-iphone-app-is-2-because-now-they-want-people-to-actually-buy-it <comment><USER2> Sometimes I wish there was a button on HN labeled "Yawn" or "Goldfish" that I could press when someone posts yet another link that just repeats a story that has been posted n times before without any additional detail or analysis.

I am not looking for an option to vote the post down just to sort of register my feelings.

Perhaps the addition of a "Goldfish" score would be a useful adjunct to many posts - maybe it's just the date...</comment>


HackTheLine: Monitize your product before it exists - <AUTHOR> http://hacktheline.com/

<comment><USER2> ssh <http://(HACKTHELINE> (car pg rules (cons (hack `the line`))) --+ scala.node(Js) + import ruby.gems %% equals = HACK THE LINE

</comment><comment><USER3> My eyes... my eyes!!!</comment>


24th anniversary of the Challenger disaster - <AUTHOR> http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/28/24th-anniversary-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29 <comment><USER2> Sad. I was in high school when it happened, I remember my Chemistry teacher telling us the news and then everyone watching it on a TV that someone had rolled out. The explosion, and the investigation that followed really shook the foundations of our beliefs as the U.S. as the leader in space exploration and engineering.</comment>


Fast HTTP package for Go - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/valyala/fasthttp <comment><USER2> One thing that stood out to me is that allocations were reduced from 18-30 per op down to zero across the board. I'd be interested in the techniques they used to achieve this, and if any could be applied to the standard library itself. Also, a benchcmp would be nice.

<comment><USER3> sync.pools aka buffer pools.

this puts lots of back pressure on GC trading bursts of speed for a more noticeable pause at a later time bc of the pause-the-world style GC. I'd love to see if this is still the case with the GC improvements in Go 1.5+. One solution is to manually load balance your web services to switch seamlessly between GC pauses (stagnated gc), without this it's almost unusable in real time applications.

<comment><USER2> Yeah I thought sync.Pool might be involved. But I don't see how this would negatively impact the GC, since using a pool almost always reduces the amount of garbage.

<comment><USER3> Unlike in C you can't tell the garbage collector to "ignore" a large chunk of the memory allocated in the buffer. what ends up happening is Go's GC spends lots of time traversing the heap and marking anyway and end up doing nothing. I know they've made optimizations like here [https://github.com/golang/go/issues/9477](https://github.com/golang/go/issues/9477) but I haven't followed it up and gave it another look yet.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Is it 100% drop-in replacement of net/http?</comment>


As hurricane Harvey slams gulf coast, Facebook and Instagram go offline - <AUTHOR> http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/26/technology/business/facebook-down/index.html <comment><USER2> Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook are way ahead of the weather channel, local news and the NWS.

We're tracking tornados around our neighborhood in real time by the pictures people are posting and their reports. Also some meteorologists are doing really technical explainers via periscope. You won't see any of this on TV.

TV is to busy covering tornado damage that happened this morning and stretching it into all day coverage. I'm tempted to call them worse than useless, negligent.

When they catch up (hours later) they'll pull video from Facebook or Twitter and mash it up with the same kind of "man on the street" coverage they've been doing for 40 years.

Do they think we don't know how out of date and ridiculous they look? It's surreal.</comment>


New life for pig-to-human transplants - <AUTHOR> http://www.nature.com/news/new-life-for-pig-to-human-transplants-1.18768 <comment><USER2> I'm not too sure about using immunosuppression and gene editing to make organs cross-species transplantable. I'm a fan of the method that washes the pig cells off the organ's protein scaffold, then takes a few cells from the patient and grows them on the scaffold to make a new native organ. The way described in the article just seems like a less elegant process, is it cheaper or easier in some way?

<comment><USER3> Cheaper, in the long run. Why bother with that scaffold and seeding and all that when you can just take the organ straight out of the animal.

Plus you still have to gm the pig. For example there's an allergen n-glycolyl neuraminic acid which is present in most extracellular matrix proteins that will be in the scaffold.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Are data markets a bust? - <AUTHOR>

It does not seem like data markets are taking off despite the initial excitement around them. Where do you think this market is heading? <comment><USER2> It depends. I think the problem most data websites have is that the user still has to do a lot of work to actually use the data.

Although not exactly a market, data.gov is a good example of what not to do. It is a gigantic list of datasets which is hard to search. Often the dataset is not in a usable format such as PDF or HTML, or it just links to another website which has a worse UI for accessing the data. The counter example is Factual which has a nice API and the ability to download their curated and cleaned datasets.

Many data websites are more like data.gov than Factual.

EDIT: I made the assumption you were asking about data websites. There are data markets that have existed for years behind closed doors between big companies. An example is health insurance companies buying de-identified health records for research purposes. As far as I aware, these markets are still doing well.

</comment><comment><USER3> In what sense? DMPs are doing fine in online advertising.</comment>


JS version of 'Still Alive' credits from Portal - <AUTHOR>

<comment><AUTHOR> I've shamelessly stolen it from reddit:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/lcxw6/portals_still_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/lcxw6/portals_still_alive_in_javascript/)

The JS is not minified and nicely written, so check it out!

</comment><comment><USER2> Awesome.</comment>


Low-fat diet trims body fat better than low-carb diet - <AUTHOR> http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/08/14/4293039.htm <comment><USER2> > People attempting to lose weight should not be swayed by the "popular theory > about how low-carb diets offer a specific metabolic advantage for body fat > loss," says Hall. "Our study has demonstrated that this theory is probably > not true."

> "The study involved 19 participants who were kept as in-patients for two > two-week blocks and their diet strictly controlled."

Only 19 participants on diets that were only two weeks long (at a time)? I'm skeptical.

<comment><USER3> > "The study involved 19 participants who were kept as in-patients for two > two-week blocks and their diet strictly controlled."

The study seems badly flawed.

If you have dieted you know that the highest rate of weight loss is in the first week or two. It is easier to stick to almost any diet for two weeks. Sticking to a change in eating behavior long term is harder than the first couple of weeks.

I have tried both diets and found my genotype is carb sensitive. Any low quality carb I eat has me wanting to eat more.

So for me a low carb (well formulated, keto-adapted) diet seems to be what works. I have a dramatically reduced caloric intake and appetite, lower blood pressure, more energy all day and in the evening and 2+ lbs average weight loss / week. Once I get my weight closer to target I know this will taper.

There are many benefits of a ketogenic diet including brain health. This is just one study of many. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/)

If you care I have two doctors involved (internal medicine and cardiologist) and both supportive of my well formulated low carb diet.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Those who had tried low-carb know it takes time to adjust metabolism to the new diet and two weeks is way too short of a period.

<comment><USER5> Actually, only 6 days, as each subject was given first one of the two diets (low-carb or low-fat), then the other.

<comment><USER4> Nutrition is notorious with its flawed and sponsored studies!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Just do what works for you. If one diet isn't working, just try out a different one. Eventually, you'll find the correct diet for you (paleo). Obviously, paleo is the correct answer, but, you have try out all those other diets first, before you can get to the right one (paleo).

</comment><comment><USER7> Problem with low-fat diets is they lead to hormonal deficiencies, sub-par vitamin absorption, and let's not forget that fatty acids are precursors to the hormones and chemicals produced in the brain. Depression is fairly common in long-term low-fat diets as well.

</comment><comment><USER8> Interesting and probably merits further examination. They did mention that the findings only speak to short term results and of course the most important bit is at the end of the article:

> "Ultimately, Hall cautions against using the study to determine what diet to > follow.

> "Rather than expecting a specific metabolic advantage for choosing one diet > over another for losing body fat, it is better to choose a diet that is > healthy for you and one that you can stick to for long periods of time, > ideally permanently," he says.</comment>


New Leadership Has Not Changed Uber - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/opinion/leadership-uber-business-model.html <comment><USER2> There's a painful math error in this piece. Uber's financial losses currently amount to about 10% of gross bookings. Details are here: [http://www.businessinsider.com/ubers-losses-grow- in-q3-but-b...](http://www.businessinsider.com/ubers-losses-grow-in-q3-but- bookings-rise-2017-12) Ergo, Uber could operate at breakeven by raising prices slightly more than 10%. (Not every dollar of extra revenue would benefit parent Uber, but let's assume that most of it would.) Uber could be highly profitable by raising prices 20%.

Author Stephen Hill, a "journalist in residence," makes a rhetorical point by implying that today's $5 Uber fare really ought to be $10 if Uber weren't subsidizing passengers, and that today's customers are "only paying half the cost of the ride."

Uber's willingness to incur losses in the name of growth is still quite astonishing, and a measured analysis of its growth strategy would be worth reading. But the gap between 10% and a rhetorical 2x is huge. Many other journalists are taking time to do the math. I'm not sure why this math- impaired version found itself a big headline.

<comment><USER3> > Uber could operate at breakeven by raising prices slightly more than 10%. > [...] Uber could be highly profitable by raising prices 20%.

No, because the demand would be different at those price points, and lower demand might not compensate for high fixed costs.

I got a timely reminder yesterday in (newly Grab-monopoly) Singapore, taking a Grab for $15 that used to cost me $3-6 on Uber.

I took public transport back. One ride was enough to shake me out of my years- trained habit of taking Uber/Grab everywhere when it cost only twice the MRT or bus ride, never really looking at the price.

Travis Kalanick's apparent vision was to create an enormous amount of demand for private drivers by dropping the price to the floor, thus creating the volume needed to make the numbers work, in the same way that Standard Oil's massive facilities dropped the price low enough for Rockefeller to bankrupt all his competitors.

<comment><USER4> "Travis Kalanick's apparent vision was to create an enormous amount of demand for private drivers by dropping the price to the floor, thus creating the volume needed to make the numbers work"

The WSJ summarized it nicely in print:

[https://twitter.com/neilanalien/status/627873374505562112?la...](https://twitter.com/neilanalien/status/627873374505562112?lang=en)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Author's vision for Uber: regulated, price-controlled ("can't charge less than a true cost of the trip"), number of cars not to exceed government mandate, with unionized and minimum-wage-guaranteed drivers.

<comment><USER6> That sounds like a good solution that would benefit drivers. Hopefully this can be realized

<comment><USER7> Sounds good for the taxi cartels... not good for the drivers who would now have fewer job options and less control over accepting work on their terms.

And of course a huge blow to consumers which is the whole point of Uber's existence anyway.

<comment><USER8> Drivers don't have that now. They have extremely little control over what rides they can turn down, and most drivers barely break even.

As for consumers, yes, it's generally felt as a blow when they have to start paying the actual costs of things, instead of coasting by on VC subsidized things.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Very clickbait headline. The leadership change was done because of a toxic culture that led to a lot of bad behavior, which is why new leadership was brought on board.

The title would imply that this leadership change hasn't changed the bad culture, but instead it goes into discuss how Uber and other companies are congesting cities which is what the problem was with Uber all along.

However, that wasn't what the leadership change was about.

In terms of congestion, that's relatively simply, just limit the number of TLC licenses that are available and you will solve congestion. Then go get that passed without having voters revolt.

</comment><comment><USER10> Interestingly despite years of negative pieces on Uber from journalists who have never liked Uber, its net favorability is still very close to Apple's:

[https://www.axios.com/exclusive-poll-facebook- favorability-p...](https://www.axios.com/exclusive-poll-facebook-favorability- plunges-1522057235-b1fa31db-e646-4413-a273-95d3387da4f2.html)

</comment><comment><USER11> Why are we still calling Uber and it's ilk "ridesharing"?

The word implies sharing a ride but the driver is there to drive, they don't get out at the destination.

<comment><USER12> I'm often using UberPool. Some drivers use Uber to carpool.

<comment><USER13> _Some drivers use Uber to carpool._

How can they do that? Does the driver app allow you to set your own destination and exclude riders not going the same way?

<comment><USER14> Yes, though there's a daily limit to the number of destinations you can target (around 2 a day?)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Completely reasonable to expect a new CEO to fundamentally change the culture and practices of an 8 year old, multi-thousand employee, multi-billion dollar company in 8 or so months.

</comment><comment><USER16> This is ridiculous, he calls for a limit on Ubers on the road to limit congestion. But there is no such limit on private cars.

<comment><USER17> Further, he uses the statistic that there may be 5X as many Uber on the road as taxis. That's not a problem! That's a solution. Taxis were clearly not addressing the full transportation need, not nearly! Only 20% of potential customers were being served.

<comment><USER8> It very much is a problem, especially if people are taking Ubers rather than public transit.

<comment><USER18> Public transit isn't a solution: it's slow, filthy, relatively expensive (for the value received) and _public_ (I'd rather not sit next to someone who hasn't bathed this week). Uber, OTOH, is fast, clean, cheap-for-the-value & private.

Am I really stoked on Uber-the-company? Not really. But I love Uber-the- service. It's far better than taxis _and_ buses.

<comment><USER8> You're wrong. Public Transit very much is a solution, and is so everywhere else in the world where they actually value it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I've gotta be honest, I feel a bit clickbaited. This piece just provides the standard resolutions to a misbehaving company with a few specifics about Uber but doesn't mull too long on it's title. Why is it that we _even expect_ a leadership change to substantially alter a company? We've created a system where there is no real accountability for the direction of a company, even it's leaders are bound to shareholders[1] and it's shareholders are dispersed with their demands either hidden from the public eye in the case of VC/PE or mostly abdicated in the case of the public. In our system a corporation with shareholders is just an automaton marching towards profit and nothing else, leadership won't make much of a difference.

[1] they aren't really but the popular idea provides cover for them to maximize their own gains via the portion of their pay that is comprised of stock

<comment><USER20> Agreed. When they make a title like that, people assume they're talking about Uber employee culture, not their business model. And the NYT knows what they are implying, and they know it will get more clicks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> The market had already set the cost of a private ride long before Uber: cabs. Uber has taken a huge market share by subsidizing their passengers with investor money, undercutting the cost of traditional cabs. One could argue that Uber is more efficient, higher quality, has a better UX, etc., but in the long run the cost passengers have to pay for a private ride with a _human_ driver will return to yellow cab levels. Drivers need to eat.

The key phrase there is human driver. It's no secret that Uber is betting on autonomous rides in the near future, which completely changes the economics of ride hailing. It looks likely that they will be able to limp across that finish line with their dismal human driver financials, into the world of real automation profitability.

</comment><comment><USER22> > a business model that harms drivers and the environment, and drains away > passengers and revenue from public transportation.

It's disingenuous to complain about how public transportation is being undermined and to propose regulations that would force more people to use it without even mentioning the sorry and stagnate state of public transportation in many cities. It is simply unfit and unsafe to use in many places (including parts of NYC and SF) due to congestion, cleanliness, delays, discomfort and many other reasons. No surprise that many people have given up on it.

</comment><comment><USER23> "Most customers who love Uber don't realize that the company subsidizes the cost of many rides"

Amazon used this technique for over a decade and is now one of the largest companies in the world. I think it's also telling that the author admits that users love Uber, but he doesn't, so things need to change. Guess what, people are happy with the service. If you're not, stop using it (and I guess publish negative articles in mass media publications).

As a massive Uber customer I'm really glad that nothing changed with the new leadership. The service does what I want and doesn't need massive tweaking. I'd also happily pay more for Uber when the subsidies end. The user experience and value for me is far too great to switch.

<comment><USER24> > Amazon used this technique for over a decade

There's a bit of a difference between those two examples. Amazon was making a per unit profit but taking losses overall due to fixed costs, Uber is taking a per unit loss. Amazon was able to eventually overcome those fixed costs with volume, but by taking a per-ride loss, Uber can't ever outgrow that subsidy without raising prices or lowering per-ride costs (and drivers are already not exactly flush with cash).

<comment><USER23> Good point. As a consumer, I'd be willing to pay higher prices so I could see how once you get "hooked" this strategy works. I also would love to see the self-driving dream come to fruition which would presumably lower costs.

You're correct that both those strategies differ from Amazon though.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> You've gotta give change time to happen.

<comment><USER26> if there's a will there's a way.

there's no will to change at uber, very clearly.

<comment><USER25> I suggest you revisit this post in 12 months time and determine if your instinct is accurate on this one.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> The CEO tweets that people he disagress with are "incompetent". Of course new leasership hasn't changed Uber, they hired selfish, hateful, spiteful people as leaders again.</comment>


Virus-Tracing Apps Are Rife with Problems. Governments Are Rushing to Fix Them - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/virus-tracing-apps-privacy.html <comment><USER2> Which of these apps, if any, used the Google/Apple Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing approach? Why didn't the Times mention that? Did I miss it?</comment>


Google Android 2.5 Froyo upcoming features leaked - <AUTHOR> http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/01/exclusive-google-android-2-5-froyo-rom-and-upcoming-features-leaked/

<comment><USER2> It looks like another April Fool post... I hate this day...

<comment><AUTHOR> Totally legit, dude. Pinky swear.</comment></comment>


Winning on Product, not on Price - <AUTHOR> http://iamvictorio.us/post/32128826754/winning-on-product-not-on-price

<comment><USER2> Really, your desired point on the price/performance tradeoff depends on the specific circumstances of your business.

(a) Being able to compete on price means you have to be really hard-nosed about optimizing every part of your operations to stay lean. Good relationships with suppliers and competent execution of your strategy are paramount -- think Walmart.

(b) Competing on product means you have to be able to blow away your competition. It's easier the smaller your niche is. It's often about having a talented designer -- Steve Jobs, Shigeru Miyamoto, Notch -- together with a support team.

A lot of software is easier to compete on product, because (1) the zero- marginal-cost structure of the industry means that competing on price is a race to the bottom that will ultimately be won by open source, and (2) a lot of software is specialized.

Companies that win in (a) tend to be driven by business types who are good at the stuff they teach in MBA school. Companies that win in (b) tend to be driven by creative types and have a culture where the creatives' vision is the core competency, and the business side is seen as more of a support role. The good news for bootstrap-stage startups is, if you're in category (b), your business chops don't matter as much; the product can make up for a lot, if it's good enough.

So if your team is thin on business talent but has a ton of technical talent, you should use strategy (b). The reverse should use strategy (a) in theory, but in practice is rare among startups; business types who are good at what they do tend to pull down very good compensation, and mostly hang around companies that can afford it. Of course, if you're in YC or funded, you may have access to business-knowledgeable people; but getting to that point usually means you already have a great product and a lot of technical talent.

<comment><USER3> I agree with most of your points. You might reconsider your idea about open source = $0, though. You don't want code, you want your computers to do something that adds value to your company. So beside the code, you still need people who understand the code and who understand the problem. And you need to configure the software to mathc your context. That doesn't come for free. It's actually so expensive that a lot of companies rather bet on closed source products with support then on open source + learning it themself, and they are right to do so. That's why most open source products actually have companies around them that sell just the know how and support.

The lesson here can be even taken further. Most things that look like $0 actually have hidden costs. Nothing's free in this world.

<comment><USER4> Open source gets easier to install / use with time (eg Wordpress is a one click install on any standard hosting service) and it is really free for those who know to use it.

The problem with open source is that there is little short term incentive to the developer. But with time I believe Open Source will be a strong option for many areas like what Khan Academy or One Laptop per Child is for education. So don't discount it!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Makes sense for your case - however, keep in mind there is plenty of cases where the innovation _is_ the very ability to offer something for a lower price. This is more true in manufacturing than software though I wouldn't be surprised in the long run if it also begins applying to software.

<comment><AUTHOR> Offering a lower price can definitely stem from having a new innovative manufacturing technique or business model which would certainly give the innovator a huge advantage.

Apple's iPad is a great example where they got the cost of making a tablet (though arguably were the first real tablet) to an incredibly low price and have delivered the best and cheapest product on the market at the time. That said, look at Amazon's Kindle which is radically cheaper now a few years later. I suspect not many people would buy it over the iPad if it weren't so cheap. That's a great advantage for Amazon for selling but I think it says a lot about Apple that it can charge such a premium for its product that really anyone else should be able to make from the same core components.

I was really struck by this phenomena when I asked the day of the iPhone 5 announcement if a co-founder (who isn't an apple fan boy) if he was going to buy the new iphone. He said yes. I asked if he had seen the price yet or read all the new specs. He replied no. How many companies can convince you to buy a product you haven't tried or heard the price for? I doubt anyone would say the same thing of Samsung or Amazon products. Apple definitely puts out the best product and experience if you measure it from that perspective.

<comment><USER5> _How many companies can convince you to buy a product you haven't tried or heard the price for?_

The flip side to this is that the iPhone's lost its marketshare to Android devices largely because of price initially. It gave competitors a chance to exist in the market and cater to a huge market that Apple largely ignored. Lower pricing(with average product at best) gave competitors like Samsung an entry into the market and today, it's given them a shot to actually compete on product.

I think it is a dangerous strategy for Apple in the long-term. There are price-sensitive nations where Apple is barely known and its competitors(such as Samsung) are dominating in a market Apple had a huge headstart in.

Something similar happened with Apple and Windows.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> >To win on product, you have to differentiate

to be clear, you have to differentiate by being _better_. just being different doesn't count. (I'm looking at you, phone manufacturers)

<comment><USER7> I agree with you, but your argument validates only when you're trying to be the overall best in a certain market. Niche products are still a safe bet otherwise.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Very much agree that winning on value rather than price is critical, especially for B2B companies working to establish themselves in the market. Focusing on price is fraught with peril and impossible to maintain for long. (Note that cost vs. price is a key distinction here - selling a product that reduces cost for the customer is great, but that's very different from using price to differentiate against competitors.) Nailing the solution to a tough customer problem is a much better formula for sustained growth... not to mention higher margins.

The allusion to the whole product is a big deal, too, because this is how that value is perceived your customers. Getting the core functionality right is a big piece of the puzzle, but I have often been amazed how much importance customers place on other things like a less painful sales process, service, support, training, etc. Building a coherent package across several of these dimensions can be a great way to differentiate in a crowded market and avoid the slippery slope of discounts.

</comment><comment><USER3> Of course to really beat all the other people at the price margin and still make plus is a skill not everybody has. cheap is a value like any other, too.

That said, most people do it wrong, when they attempt to do it cheaper. This might make a false impression about that pricing is the problem, were actually the people doing it, are what's wrong.

</comment><comment><USER9> I generally agree with this however, it can often go beyond just product. The old adage of sell on value not on price applies here. Don't underestimate the power of marketing and sales to be able to really position product differentiation, service, value, ROI, etc to beat out a lower priced competitor.

</comment><comment><USER10> And if you can't win on either, win on patents.

<comment><USER11> And come second if you're handy with a photocopier

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Real news for hackers again. :-/</comment>


Cloudflare outage caused by bad software deploy (updated) - <AUTHOR> https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-outage/# <comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20336332](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20336332)

<comment><USER3> I believe this was for the updated version with the explanation. I personally found it useful because it told me there is an update and I can read more about it.

<comment><USER2> It's the identical URL, no?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> This is why regular expressions get a bad reputation.</comment>


The Articles of Unity - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@ArticlesOfUnity/the-articles-of-unity-f544f930d336 <comment><USER2> Not really tech related; However, I think its is a silly idea, mostly in that for 2020, it just won't happen. Something like this needs momentum well before the general election. I saw this retweeted with no reference for how this was already in the works, even though that was in the claim. For 2024, this would have to show something by 2022 as so the unity campaign will actually have representatives people can get to know and have stake in up into the election year. I'm just pessimistic. It's not a bad idea in itself, it's just probably not going to go anywhere.</comment>


Ask HN: What kind of payment methods do devs like? - <AUTHOR>

We have a webservice that is currently free but we're introducing paid components, which include additional API calls as well as data export functionality. We're thinking about pricing and I wanted to get some input from devs. What kind of pricing model is most appealing to you?<p>- Flat monthly fee (all you can eat)<p>- Fixed fee per action / API call (pay as you go)<p>- Credit system, like on istockphoto.com (for example, API calls cost 1 credit, data export costs 5 credits, you buy credits in increments of 10)<p>Any other suggestions (other than free!) are appreciated. <comment><USER2> I personally like fixed monthly or yearly. It is easy for me to budget for that. I would hate for me to run out of credits and my site stop working, and on the same token, I would hate to get a $1500 bill and I was only expect $30.</comment>